Will Cost-Cutting Be Enough for the USPS?

Following early-morning reports that anticipated the news, the United States Postal Serviceannounced on Wednesday that it would discontinue mail delivery on Saturdays. The change, which will become effective in August, has been a long time coming. Thanks to escalating costs, largely attributed to unconventional government-imposed healthcare compensation, the USPS has been hemorrhaging money, and for a few years a five-day mail delivery cycle has been floating in the ether as a possible cost-cutting plan.

To be clear, the USPS will continue package-delivery services on a six-day schedule. The service change only affects letters, which will still be shipped to P.O. boxes on Saturdays. Post offices currently open on Saturdays will remain open. All in all, the change is expected to save the USPS $2 billion annually once it is fully implemented.

There are two major aspects of tremendous losses facing the USPS of which people should be aware. The first is that the USPS receives no support from the federal government in the form of taxpayer dollars. The institution is left to finance itself, even though it is subject to federal oversight…